He was finally sleeping, though his breath was still loaded and difficult. And no, this time it was not a nightmare, but a common, boring, uninteresting cold.... and she smiled, and loved his cold and his being common and human. It has a happy day when she only had to worry about him being cranky and and a bad patient.
She was a surgeon... not a family doctor, and definitely not a nurse. Was a dreadful cook, unable to make a decent chicken soup, and was not patient enough to nurse anyone back to heath. But there she was; sitting by the bed. Watching him sleep under the influence of codeine. That was something she was actually good about; picking and prescribing drugs. Though for a bad cold the only thing was still rest and sweating in bed. And no; as she had very sternly told him some hours ago; not that kind of sweat.
And she found herself smiling again looking at him. It was nearly the time of his next codeine shot. It was actually a very bad cold, but she knew he would survive. He had been through worse... they had been through much worse together these last years. She looked through the window, one hand under her chin, and the other holding her cup of coffee. She loved those gray Seattle days, where the sky was so dark that 2 p.m. looked sunset time. The clouds were darker than gray, they had a hint of dark blue, and you could feel the storm approaching. Never understood why people would prefer sunny California to this; but maybe it was just her character that made her love those evenings watching the storm from behind the window, worm, cozy and with a cup of coffee in her hand.
The alarm of her cell phone startled her, as she looked at her watch. She had been daydreaming and had nearly missed his dose of medicine. He had made a dreamer out of her. He had definitely taken the icicle out of her chest. Of course she was still hardcore, and badass... Ms Badass actually, she thought as she looked at the plain platinum band in her finger... she had a platinum chain to hang it from her neck whenever she entered the OR, but she liked wearing it outside... and she loved Owen wearing it... keeping the greedy nurses at bay... She would never stop being tough and impatient, sometimes even rude at work. But she had her soft spot, and her soft spot was in need of medicine, so, she stood up, and sat down at his side of the bed, very close to him. She gently caressed his hair, and bent down to kiss his forehead. Both sweetly and to check if he had fever. Good, no fever. He was getting better. He begun to move slowly his eyes still blurred.
"Hi sleeping beauty... doctor brings you the medicine" she told him softly. "Cannot play doctors now" was his cranky answer. "You get to play the good patient and just drink" she told him with the spoon by his lips "come on, open your mouth... you are a doctor, you know you will feel better". Without much strength he complied and swallowed the green liquid. "Aagghh, it tastes like hell" he complained childish. "Thought about mixing it up with a single malt, but you would complain later about ruining the good stuff" she laughed. "Stop laughing and let me die alone"
"Sorry Dr. Hunt.... remember I bargained you a minimum of 60 years.... no way I am letting you cheat me a single minute of them" she joked "I always knew you were greedy and that you wouldn't settle down for my meager 40 year offer" he replied with a tired half smile "but you know Yang..., I would have promised you much more.... forever and one day" and with that and a smile he buried his head in the pillow and went to sleep. Still leaving her speechless and with a warm feeling in her chest.
She was not a religious person, but she would thank every God it existed for having brought him to her life. After five years of marriage, after sticking through thick and thin together, he still got to surprise her and make her feel like a teenager in love. Actually like she guessed a teenager in love would feel, for she had never felt like that on her teens. He had made her a better person, shown her what compassion for others meant. Even though she wouldn't let it show on the outside, they both knew it was there.
She looked at him, and even knowing she had a lot of things to do, and that it was a very bad idea.. since she could not afford to get the plague... she could not resist climbing up to the other side of the bed. As he was lying on his side, she just hugged him from behind, burying her nose on the back of his neck, without even waking up, in a reflex developed over the years, he took her hand in his and pressed her whole arm against his chest. She relaxed and closed her eyes, knowing that she was home, listening to the steady sound of his heart and the rain had begun falling outside.
